China's £3 Glasses Are Destroying a £165 Billion Monopoly in UK — Here's How

0:00 The £170 pair of sunglasses 2:14 Leonardo Del Vecchio’s beginnings 4:11 Luxottica’s corporate takeover 7:30 Fashion brands and the Essilor merger 8:42 Essilor Luxottica in Britain 11:29 Danyang, China’s lens industry 14:19 The Glasses Direct disruption 16:21 The future of eyewear prices I follow the hidden journey behind a £170 pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarers and reveal how a single company came to control so much of the eyewear industry. I trace Leonardo Del Vecchio’s rise from an orphanage in Milan to Luxottica’s acquisitions of Ray-Ban, Sunglass Hut and Oakley, then examine the Essilor merger and its reach across British optical chains. I also visit Danyang, China, where enormous lens production is challenging the old pricing model, and revisit the story of Glasses Direct and the online disruption reshaping how people buy glasses.